JOHNSON CITY — From the crowd of onlooking Cub Scouts, a frenzied countdown turned to silent anxiety as their pinewood derby cars flew to the end of a 50-foot track.

The 130 racers learned something about patience in the hours they spent to shape their derby cars. They had four tries for the fastest time and most winners finished in under 4 seconds.

“It depends on where you put the weights and how you design it,” said Gabe Fellows, a 9-year-old Cub Scout from Endicott, after finishing second.

After four consecutive wins, 9-year-old Cub Scout Gabe Denzien, of Binghamton, wasn’t willing to share his secret — but said he finds “repeatability of the experiment” is key.

The pinewood derby was the centerpiece of Saturday’s Boy Scout Expo, which filled the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City. The event brought together more than 200 scouts of many ages from Broome and Tioga counties.

Scouts joined their pack and troop leaders to showcase their activities and projects over the years, from what they built with their hands to how they applied skill sets honed on camping trips.

The expo is traditionally held the first weekend in February as a chance to remind the community how scouting helps kids grow, said Bob Clark, field director for the Boy Scouts of America Baden-Powell Council in Binghamton.

“Scouting is the foremost youth organization to teach kids ethical and moral decisions to make over their lifetime,” Clark said. “It’s about grooming them to be our community leaders.”

While showing others how to make rope, 15-year-old Boy Scout Charlie Dutton said he likes to make the younger scouts feel as if they’re being initiated into something bigger.

And that’s where Spencer Zlock is heading. On Wednesday, the 18-year-old Johnson City resident will sit for his board of review to become an Eagle Scout — the organization’s pinnacle rank.

Hoping to earn it, he spent four months restoring a mammoth plaque dedicated to World War II veterans from Binghamton and Johnson City.

Over the decades, and after sitting in the basement of village hall, it gathered considerable rust and corroded to a point that made it almost unreadable, he said. Hours of scrubbing made it look brand new, he said Saturday.

“All the skills you learned over the years in scouting, it’s a whole process that with a project like this you have to show you know how to be a leader,” Zlock said.